learntodream's reviews
114 reviews

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw

adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

Milk Blood Heat by Dantiel W. Moniz

emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

Every Body Looking by Candice Iloh

emotional hopeful tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

The Tradition by Jericho Brown

emotional reflective slow-paced

3.0

Outlawed by Anna North

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

Thick: And Other Essays by Tressie McMillan Cottom

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Each essay provides a dissection of American culture’s treatment of Black women. I found it so engaging and the writing was amazing.

Felon: Poems by Reginald Dwayne Betts

challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

5.0

I do not have a lot of experience with poetry but heard about this through The Stacks podcast. It was great for me a newbie poetry reader and a person on my journey to better understanding abolition. Reading his poem about Tamir Rice just days after the murder of Adam Toledo is heart wrenching and strengthens my convictions that abolition is where we should be headed. He also uses court documents to do some blackout poetry about the use of bail by many cities in the US as a means to imprison poor people. Each poem illustrates the systematic way the courts and judicial system are targeting the poor in order to have access to (illegally) cheap labor. This was a great book. Betts also writes about his life after prison and how he struggled to figure out how to just be out of prison. The poems are emotional and honest, also accessible. I read Felon through my local library but I will be purchasing this ASAP because I want to read it again as I continue to learn more about getting rid of police and prisons.

Lifting as We Climb: Black Women's Battle for the Ballot Box by Evette Dionne

informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

The Removed by Brandon Hobson

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Grief

The New Wilderness by Diane Cook

challenging tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0